


The Great Divide chapter 23: Next to Nothing

by Antigravity_Carnivore



Series: The Great Divide [23]
Category: Breaking Benjamin (Band), STARSET (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Computers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F.E.C., F/M, Fluff and Angst, Future, Future Fic, Heavy Angst, M/M, Rebellion, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, e - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 07:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13922628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antigravity_Carnivore/pseuds/Antigravity_Carnivore
Summary: After the final confronation with Burnley, Thomas, Dustin, Ben and Brock look for a way out of the F.E.C. base





	The Great Divide chapter 23: Next to Nothing

“Thomas!!!” Lizzie screamed and ran over to him. Burnley looked down at the length of blade that was sticking out of his mid-section, staring dully at his own blood as it ran down the metal and pooled up on the floor underneath him. His eyes widened and he held his hands out in front of him, completely dazed by what was happening. Slowly, Thomas pulled the sword out and Burnley slumped over, suffering massive internal injuries, but still clinging to life. Lizzie wrapped her arms around Thomas and he hugged her tightly, trying to ignore the pain from the broken ribs he had endured. She grabbed his head and then started kissing him, not even caring about or noticing the fair amount of blood that covered his nose and lips. Starting to cry, she alternated between kisses and hugs, trying to convince herself that he wasn't a dream or hallucination. “I've been so worried about you, Thomas, are you alright? You look like you've been through hell. Please don't ever leave me alone again.”

Resting his head against hers, Thomas let out a sigh of relief as he looked around the room. “This is the second time that I almost lost you. There is no way that I am ever letting you out of my sight Lizzie, you are too precious to me.” Bending down, he kissed her lips over and over, until she had calmed down, but he still kept her close to him, in a protective embrace with a arm wrapped around her waist. “Burnley locked me in the control room, I saw everything that happened. It took me all this time to get through that god damn door and free myself. I wish I would have made it down here sooner.” He paused and ran his fingers through the dark curls of his hair. “I'd ask if everyone was okay, but from the looks of it, I'd say that it would be a stupid question.”

“We're all together now, and we're all safe. That's the most important part.” Lizzie said warmly. “Everyone can leave together.”

Benjamin slipped his hand into mine, helping me to my feet and I kissed him. This time, the breath that touched my skin felt new and rejuvenating. His lips whispered the unspoken promise of a much deserved life together. I laced my fingers together with his and lightly ran my fingers over the wedding ring on his finger. This is where it belonged. I had no right taking it from him. It had finally found it's way back home. The moment of serene silence was suddenly broken, with the muffled sound of something breaking. Glancing over, I saw that Brock had taken the vial of Eden drug and dropped it onto the floor, crushing it underneath his boot. Slowly I let go of Ben and walked over to him. He kept his eyes locked on the shards of glass and droplets of amber that spilled out onto the floor. As I approached him, he made absolutely no effort to look at me. I knew that he was riddled with guilt now, it was obvious by the look on his face. He wasn't hiding his emotions anymore, there was no need to. “Brock?”

Holding his arm against his chest, he finally looked up at me. I waited. I had to let him speak first. “Would saying 'sorry' have made any difference to you at this point? Would it ever now? It's just a word. One word against a thousand mistakes that I have made.”

“They weren't mistakes, Brock. None of them were.” I saw Brock turn and look at Burnley, who was still conscious, and kneeling on the floor, arm around his stomach, silent and sullen. Placing my hand along Brock's jaw, I turned his head back towards me and shook my head. “What matters is that here at the end of things, you are right where you should be, with the people who love and trust you.” I saw his gaze shift to Lizzie and Thomas, who were still locked in one anothers embrace. Lizzie noticed Brock looking at her and she offered him a apologetic smile. Turning back to me, I could see that he was still hurting, and would be for quite some time after everything was over. The wounds that had been cut into our souls ran very deep and time was the only thing that could mend them. “Don't worry.” I said, trying to reassure him. “We will work through this.” I grasped his good shoulder, giving him a firm squeeze of affirmation and then returned to Ben's side.

Standing in the center of the room, Ben was facing Burnley, who had now sank a little lower down to the ground, a thick pool of blood building up around him. Thomas and Lizzie joined him and as they all drew near, Burnley lifted his head back up, letting the flow of blood stream down his face and neck, covering his bare chest with rivers of red. Lizzie put her hand in front of her mouth and turned away, unable to gaze at the grim sight before her. Thomas gripped the handle of the sword with his bruised and bloody knuckles. “I will end this. It will be quick. Painless, which is more than this bastard deserves. He won't hurt anyone ever again.” Thomas raised the sword high overhead, as Burnley stretched out his arms, the raven tattoo on his back spread its wings and he bent his neck slightly, waiting for the blade to be brought down.

“Wait.” I said. Everyone turned to look at me. This was the moment that they had been waiting for, and was I responsible for stopping it. I couldn’t let another mistake be made. None of us had the power to do this. Thomas lowered the sword and gave me a curious look. “Give it to me.” Handing the blade over, I walked to Ben and offered it to him. He looked at it with a deep sadness reflected in his eyes. “He's Ben's son. We don't have the right to kill him. It has to be Ben.”

Burnley turned his sightless gaze to Ben, speaking with a fading voice and bloody saliva dripping from his lips. “Rain, rain, go away, come again another day. All the world is waiting… for the… son…” The lyrics which he spoke were dark and sinister, filled with loathing and hatred. He had turned one of his father’s songs into something as twisted and perverted as his own soul. “Father, I am better than you, and we both know it. Think of me as the bird who is not content to sit about and spend his life pecking at dead things in the desert.. The water that scares you rejuvenates me. Unlike you, I can swim, so swim I shall. Your ocean will be my homeland. So strike deep and fast with your blade, because if you don't end my life, I will drown you in torment and agony.”

“Shut the fuck up Burnley!” Thomas shouted, stepping forward and suddenly throwing a well placed kick into his already wounded stomach. Burnley let out a muffled moan, and toppled over for a moment, and then sat back up, clutching his arms tightly around him. His torso was now covered in blood, and it saturated his leather pants, making them shiny in the dim light of the room. He chuckled to himself.

“Thomas stop it, please.” Lizzie begged, her eyes full of tears.

“Why should I? He’s going to die anyway, look at him. It’s only a matter of time. He deserves far worse punishment for what he’s done to you, to me, to everyone in this room. How can you even think to have pity on someone like him!?” Thomas asked harshly.

Lizzie spoke with a quiet voice, trying her best to calm Thomas down. “Because… he’s someone’s son.”

“He’s MY son and my responsibility.” Benjamin said, taking the sword from me. He lifted it off my hands and I noticed a few drops of blood still remaining on it from being shoved through Burnley’s body. Off in the distance behind us, I could hear Lizzie sobbing quietly. I couldn’t understand her sadness. She had suffered just as much as any of us, and I assumed it was her general good nature that was making her feel this way, or perhaps she knew something. I didn’t know which was more likely.

On the floor, Burnley chuckled. “Now, after all this time you choose to accept me as your son? Only when I am at your feet, dying, will you take responsibility for me? How pathetic! I don’t want or need your sympathy, Benjamin. Save it for the living.” A fit of coughing over came him, and he hunched over as his body began to spasm violently. After it passed, he sat upright again and then spat a mouthful of blood out at Ben’s feet. “You called me a coward for not being able to kill you when I had the chance, now I am saying the same thing to you, because I don’t think that you have the balls to do it. Even though, I fucked with every single person in this room, you still have doubts whether or not to kill me. Well let me help you out here… After you died, and I was taken by the F.E.C. have you ever wondered what happened to my mother, your wife, Rhiannon?”

I heard Ben draw in a breath and I reached to touch his arm, trying my best to keep him focused. “Ben, come on… don’t let him speak anymore. You know that he’s going to say something to screw with your head. We’re so close here. Just let it be.”

“Shall I tell you about her screams father? Or perhaps you’d like to know---“

Letting out a loud shout, Ben arced his arm back, his fingers gripping the hilt of the sword tightly, and swung it high over his head. Lizzie ran to Thomas and buried her face against his chest, unable to watch the spectacle unfold in front of her. Behind me, Brock stood still and motionless. He had every opportunity now to step in and save Burnley. The possibility of betrayal was there. It would take so little to catch Ben off guard, since he was so distracted. These seconds felt like and eternity. I felt my heart in my throat as Ben brought the sword down with a vicious thrust and at the last second before it sliced into Burnley’s neck, I had to look away. Seeing the violent act was more than I could take. Turning my head slightly, I heard Ben let lose a blood curdling scream and then there was a very distinct pinging of metal hitting concrete. Slowly turning back around, my eyes searched for Burnley’s headless corpse, but it was not there. Instead, he still remained alive, kneeling down in front of his father, blind and humble, gasping for breath. Benjamin had swung the sword with the strength he had left in his body and jammed it into the floor right in front of Burnley, burying the blade a quarter of the way into the concrete.

“….why….” Burnley whispered. The tone in his voice was like that of a small child. 

Ben looked down at his son with a commanding presence that even frightened me. I wanted to go to him, but I knew that this moment was for the two of them, alone. “We might be father and son, and share the same blood, but you are far from being the little boy that you once were. That innocence was taken from you a long time ago, and there’s no way to get it back now. You are a ruthless, brutal killer who is completely incapable of showing any amount of love. By all rights, I should end you right now, for what you did to my friends, but I won’t. I would rather let your blood spill out and be wasted upon the floor here rather than let the tainted poison cover my hands.”

Burnley removed one of the arms he had wrapped around his stomach and blindly reached out, trying to grab hold of Ben. He managed to get his fingers on the thin sheet that Ben had wrapped around him and he yanked at it, smearing fresh bloody finger prints all over the fabric. “Don’t you fucking leave me here to die alone like this! Father please! Don’t abandon me again.”

Yanking the sheet back, Benjamin pulled it away from Burnley, who then fell down onto the floor, landing on his back, with his sightless eyes staring up into the bright fluorescent lights sobbing. Benjamin knelt down next to his dying son. “Just let the pain take over. Isn’t that what you do? Let it take over and allow it to numb the agony of being left behind to die alone and unloved. Pretend that there are people who love you, make yourself believe in them... because in reality, no one does. You're just a raving lunatic strung out on drugs and delusions of grandeur. I am ashamed of you.” Gripping the hilt of the sword, that was embedded deeply in the floor, Ben took hold of it and started to twist it in his hands. I could see the muscles in his back and shoulders tense up and glisten with tiny drops of sweat as he put all the power and strength he had into it, turning the blade against the concrete. After several moments there was a sharp snapping sound and I noticed that Burnley flinched. Ben stood up, and I could see that half of the sword was still stuck in the floor; the other half was in his hands. He had broken it in two. Looking down at the severed blade in disgust, he dropped the hilt down next to Burnley’s head without a word. Turning around, Ben gathered up the folds of the sheets and started to head for the door. “Goodbye, Benjamin.” He said, calling out, not even bothering to look behind him in a somber, morose tone. Those would be the last words that he would ever say to his son. I watched in shocked as he exited the room, and the three of us were left there alone with Burnley.

“I should kill you myself, you fucking bastard.” Thomas said, his words filled with spite and rage. “I still don't know why Selene wanted you brought back alive. We got all the information about the F.E.C. Base from your computer, which means you are expendable.” Picking up Burnley's laser rifle from the floor, he armed it and pointed the sight in the center of his forehead. “Here's the mercy that you refused to give others. Take your penance.”

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, Lizzie laid her hand on Thomas's arm and shook her head. “Thomas, please, let's just go. We've done enough here. He won't last more than a few more minutes anyway. Lower the gun and walk out of here with a clean conscience with me. I don't want to start our lives off like this.”

Looking down at Burnley and then back to Lizzie, Thomas grudgingly lowered the weapon and then slung it over his shoulder. Taking hold of Lizzie's hand, he walked her out the door, to the hall where Benjamin was waiting.

“It's finally over.” Brock said. I looked over at him, at his tired, exhausted thin body and wanted to kiss him so badly. His physical wounds would heal, but the emotional and mental scars that Burnley had put there would probably last a lifetime. He had his eyes fixed on Burnley, who was barely breathing, lying on the floor so still that he looked like a corpse already. “I thought that there was really something there, for just one single moment, I believed in him and wanted it to be real.”

“Many of us believe that when we give love, we are getting the love back that we deserve, but sometimes it's just an illusion of what we gave them. And I hope above all you give your heart to someone again no matter how many broken promises you have received.” I said softly. Brock took a step away from Burnley and picked up his messenger bag. Most of his personal items had been lost, scattered about and left behind, but that bag was just as much part of him as the things inside were. It made me happy to see him wearing it again. I smiled at him as he walked out the door.

Alone in the room with Burnley, I walked by him and looked down to the mangled body in front of me. Thomas wanted to go against Ben's wishes and out him out of his misery, but Lizzie stopped him, but now... there was no one there but the two of us. I bent down and picked up the hilt of the broken sword that Ben had tossed aside and held it tightly in my hand. All I had to do was thrust it into his heart and Burnley's reign of terror would be over. I glanced over to the door that led out to the hall, and to freedom and sighed. I remembered the look on Ben's face when he thought I had killed Burnley earlier, and then I dropped the sword. I couldn't do it. I made my way to the door, to join the others and behind me, I heard Burnley laughing.

Outside in the hallway, I saw Lizzie kneeling down on the floor beside Benjamin who was sitting with his back supported by the cold wall. There were thick, dark circles under his eyes and he appeared to be in a lot of pain. Shivering and trembling uncontrollably. His entire body was covered in a heavy layer of sweat, but his skin was cold to the touch. It was obvious that he had fallen soon after exiting the room and remained there. I immediately ran over to him. “What the hell is going on?”

Lizzie gave me a concerned look. “I don't know what's wrong with him. He was leaning up against the wall here when Thomas and I came out, and then collapsed. I can't find anything medically wrong! He's only semi-conscious.”

Glancing around, I looked up and down the corridor in a panic. “Where's Thomas, where did he go?” I asked, while trying to rouse Ben.

“He went to find some supplies. Dustin, we're running out of time.” Lizzie held up her wrist and I could see that the timer on her comm device was still ticking down the minutes. There were only 20 minutes remaining before the base would explode. “We have to get Ben up and moving. All three of you are injured and I can't carry him either. What are we going to do?”

I took hold of Ben's hand and held it in mine. His skin was cool to the touch. There was a fine sheen of cold sweat build up over his face and chest, and his breathing was shallow and labored. I tried to shake him gently. “Ben, Ben, hey are you there. Come on, we have to get out of here. We need you on your feet here. I can't do this on my own.” There was no response from him. Now I was starting to feel Lizzie's panic. I held his face in my hands and looked into his eyes. Slightly open, I could see that his pupils were now fully dilated and those faint traces of amber were starting to intensify again, taking over the normal color of his irises at an alarming rate. “Fuck!” I shouted.

“What is it?” Lizzie asked curiously.

Brock answered her question before I could. “It's the Eden drug.”

“But how? The syringe was still full when you stepped on it! How did any of it get into his system without being injected?”

Brock frowned. “Benjamin was already heavily sedated and strapped down to that bed when I... when Burnley... found me.” His voice dropped down lower. “Three hours to be exact. He could have done anything to him in that time. The Eden drug is notorious for producing extremely random effects in each patient. It could merely be putting him in a dream like state of hallucinations, like it did to Dustin, or it could be attacking his heart and slowly killing him. There's no way of knowing for certain. That is IF it was the Eden drug.”

Lizzie stood up and started pacing the hall. I felt the fear building with each step that she took. We were wasting time. “Brock, go find Thomas. As soon as you get back here, I am going to carry Ben out myself.”

“Dustin, you can't!” Lizzie whispered.

“I can and I will. Thomas has cracked ribs, Brock as a broken hand and shoulder. If I don't do this than he's not going to make it out, and I swore to him that I'd never leave his side again. Now Lizzie, go find Thomas!” I looked up at her with desperation in my eyes and she nodded to me. Before she could turn to leave, Thomas came running down the hall with his arms full of supplies.

Dropping to his knees, he threw the entire lot of medical items down and then started sifting through them frantically. Scattering various items all across the hall, he finally found what he was looking for, it was a vial of drugs and a needle. Shoving the syringe into the liquid, he reached for Ben's arm and I grabbed his hand. “What the FUCK do you think you are doing, Thomas?”

“I am saving Benjamin’s life here. Let go of me!” he shouted.

I tightened my grip on his wrist. “Not with more drugs. There's no way in fucking hell that I am going to let you use that poison on him.”

Quietly moving behind me. Lizzie came and sat down on the floor next to Thomas and I. Picking up the bottle that he had filled the needle from, she examined it. “Dustin, it's okay. Let him do it. It's not the Eden drug. It's adrenaline. It will kick start Ben's body and help wake him up. It's good, trust me.”

I nodded to Thomas and he immediately shoved the needle deep into the vein in Ben's arm. Several anxious moments passed and soon Ben began to come around. My heart raced as he opened his eyes once again and I could see the amber flecks start to fade, hopefully for the last time. “What happened?” he asked groggily.

Relief washed over me and I pulled him into my arms. “Nothing we couldn't handle. You're going to be okay now.” Thomas started to gather up the items and handed Ben some clothing.

“I hate to break this up, but if you're good, we have to move.” He said sternly.

“Ben, are you sure that you're ready to go?” I asked. Without even answering me, he was pushing himself up, trying to get to his feet. I assisted him as best I could, but Lizzie was right, and the beating that I had taken at the hands of Burnley was starting to take it's toll on me. With the thought of escape looming around the corner, some of the energy that I had built up within myself was starting to dwindle down and I knew that sooner or later I would crash.

As he made it to a upright position, Ben pulled the bloodied sheet away from his body, and Lizzie blushed, quickly turning away. Sliding into the fresh set of clothing, Ben looked over his shoulder to Brock, who was facing the large double doors that led into the room where we had left Burnley. “Lock it.” Ben said gruffly.

Brock turned to look at Ben, as he started buttoning up his shirt. “Lock the door so that it can't be opened from the inside or outside.” Walking over to him, he came to stand right beside him, almost uncomfortably close. I was shocked and astonished to see Ben recover so quickly. “I know that you can do it, so please make it quick. Nothing goes in or comes out of that room. Understand?”

There was something there in Brock's eyes that scared me. A look of defiance, perhaps, but I felt as though he wanted to challenge Ben for some odd reason. He would have never done that before. “No Benjamin. There's no reason to do this. Burnley isn't going anywhere, there's no one to come save him either. This place is going to explode. It's pointless. Let's just go.” Brock started to walk away and Ben reached out, grabbing his injured shoulder and yanking him back forcibly. Brock screamed in pain.

I ran over, trying to place myself in between the two men. I wasn't sure which one was in the right here, but I knew I had to stop this confrontation from escalating. “Ben! What are you doing? Stop this, you're hurting him.”

Ben frowned and stared down Brock, like I didn't even exist. “Burnley is at the end of his life, which means he's even more dangerous. I am not taking any chances here, lock the god damn door, Brock.”

Brock looked directly at him. “No.”

Benjamin squeezed his fingers tighter around Brock’s arm, and I could see fresh blood appear there. I pulled Ben's hand off of him. “For fuck sake Ben, please cut it out. What's gotten into you?”

“You have no idea what Burnley is capable of, Dustin. Have you forgotten that I spent weeks in a holding cell in the basement of this place, listening to the sound of him torturing innocent people on a daily basis? He's evil incarnate. There's only one way in and out of that room, and it's through these doors here, and I need the satisfaction and peace of mind knowing that if something goes wrong, he won't make it out.”

“If you're so worried about him getting out, then why the hell didn't you kill him?” Thomas chimed in. “I know that he's your son and all, but seriously Benjamin if it has you worried this much, then just go back in there and end it.” Waiting a few seconds for Ben's response, which didn't come, Thomas moved to push past him, gripping his weapon in his hand, heading back towards the door. “Fuck it, I will.”

Slamming his arm into Thomas's body, Ben glared at him, and he fell back against the wall, clutching at his chest. “It's MY choice what happens to him, not yours! So back off Thomas.”

“This is nuts. Look at yourselves…you’re all going mad. I get it, Burnley being still alive is dangerous, but arguing about it and pushing one another around isn’t the way to go about it.” I scowled at Ben, greatly shocked by his behavior. “That's no way to treat Brock, or Thomas, Ben. They saved your life back there; they saved ALL of our lives. We need to show them a little more respect. I don't understand this sudden outburst all of a sudden, what's wrong with you?”

“Like Brock said, it has to be the Eden drug.” Lizzie said quietly. “It’s the only logical explanation. Somehow, some must have gotten into his bloodstream. Like Brock said, it affects each person differently. Maybe because Ben was sedated, it didn’t have the chance to take effect, and now the latency has worn off.”

“Ben, did Burnley inject you with it while you were in the observation room or did you have any other contact with it?” I asked curiously.

Walking away from the door, Ben went to stand on the opposite side of the wall, and leaned against it, closing his eyes and resting his head backwards. “No... Nothing.” He said in a flat, monotone voice. I stared at him for long moments, trying to read the expression on his face. It was completely emotionless. Ben had been known to lash out at people before, but never his friends, and never like this. There was something he wasn’t telling us. 

Brock pushed past Ben and I and went over to the keypad and started pressing codes on it. “It's fine.” he said, frowning. “Let's just get out of here.” I could tell that he was upset and more than a little offended by the way Ben was treating him. In a few moments, the key pad turned red again and the room was sealed off, we were ready to go. The issue of Ben's sudden illness would have to wait until later.

Reaching into the pocket of my flight jacket, I pulled out the key that allowed access to the sub-basement. “The closest route out of there is through the basement. Burnley said that there were vehicles down there that we can take. If we hurry, we can get access to them and get the hell out of here with a few minutes to spare.”

Lizzie looked in the direction where I was pointing and shook her head. “That's a serious gamble. You're assuming that Burnley wasn't lying to you, or setting you up for a trap when he made that offer, Dustin. Aaron said that he would leave transportation for us at the edge of the perimeter of the base. I trust him more than I trust Burnley. We should be heading up, not down.”

“Burnley was telling the truth, Lizzie.” Brock said, speaking up. “Parts of the base have lost power and there aren't any lifts to get us up to the entrance that you came in from, we'd have to take several flights of stairs just to get to that set of corridors. Down is the best solution for the time that we have.”

Thomas sighed. “We don't have time to put it to a vote. Just choose one so we can get the hell out of here.”

Grabbing the key card from my hand, Ben grabbed it and started walking forward and soon we were all following him. The minutes slipped away from us quickly and no one spoke to one another as we made our way down the twisting halls. Eventually we came to the massive double doors that were sealed with yet another glowing keypad. Ben turned around and looked at all of us as he brought the card up and prepared to insert it into the slot. I tried to mentally prepare myself for the worst, that Burnley was a liar and the card wouldn't work. We didn't have enough time now to reverse the route and travel back up the way that we came, so it needed to work. For the first time in my life, I was hoping that Burnley was telling the truth. I clenched my teeth and felt my entire body tighten up as Ben inserted the card into the slot. The light flashed red, over and over. My heart sank. We had come so far, and I had now doomed us all to a fiery death. Ben stared at the card reader, Thomas pulled Lizzie a little closer to him, Brock leaned against the wall, letting his head fall back, and I just closed my eyes. It was over.

“When I was a child, I can remember my mother reading me the Alice in Wonderland story before bed.” Thomas said softly. Lizzie leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder, listening intently to his words. “It had to be the same story, every night, because that was the one that I loved the most. The book was worn out and the pages thin as rice paper, all except for the very last one. I would never let her read the last page to me. When we got to that part, I'd make her close the book and start it all over again. One night she asked me why I did this. She wanted to know why I never wanted her to read the very last page in my favorite book. I was a child, and as children often do, I had silly thoughts. I told her that if she read that last page to me, then the story would end, and I'd never be able to see these characters again. Now that I am older, I realize that endings are inevitable. The story may end, but the feelings and emotions that you experienced with them will stay with you forever. You can never really complete the journey until that last page is turned, and I have to remind myself that some things I love end. And that’s okay.”

Lizzie managed a small smile. “Thomas, that's beautiful. I miss Selene. Do you think that wherever she is, she's safe?”

“I hope so, Lizzie. I really hope so.” he replied.

Suddenly the card reader flashed from red to green and the doors slid open. We all stood there for a few moments, completely shocked. It worked! The doors were open! We were going to go home! Together, we all hurried inside and as we entered, we triggered motion sensors that lit up the massive cavernous room several hundred feet wide where the arsenal of vehicles were kept. We ran down the stairs, as fast as our feet could carry us to the ground level, anxiously waiting for the sight of the chariots that would fly us to freedom. Upon reaching the bottom, all of our hopes were crushed. Each of the vehicles were completely trashed. Tires were slashed, hoods had been pried open and tubes and hoses slit with eerie precision. Windows were smashed out and all the brake lines had been cut. More than a few had holes punctured in the gas tanks, and there were highly flammable, noxious gases leaking out. Walking amongst the useless vehicles, we went over them, one at a time, trying desperately to find one that might still be operational. Nothing. Burnley had been down here before us, sabotaging his own motor pool so that no one could escape.

“Son of a bitch!” Ben shouted, and punched the hood of one of the vehicles.

“They are all useless.” Brock murmured.


End file.
